Last Hurrah

I managed to squeeze in one more FO in 2007...the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It's been off the needles for nearly 2 months, but I blocked it badly the first time and thought it was disastrous. So I stuffed it into the project basket and tried not to think about it. I only pulled it out a couple of days ago because I thought it wouldn't be good to drag bad knitting karma into the new year, so I resolved to figure out something to do with it. Luckily, I decided to reblock it before trying anything drastic, and it did the trick! More pictures and specs are in the gallery.



I am still having problems with it gaping at the buttons, so if that could be fixed, it'd be just about perfect! All in all, I'm really happy with how it turned out and will get a lot of wear out of this cardigan.

This was also my first experience using the Knit PIcks Options needles (size 4). I know a lot of people swear by these, but they didn't work out so well for me. I have some of the regular Knit Picks circular needles and love those, but something in the way I knit makes the Options needles keep unscrewing. (Yes, I did use the little gizmo to help tighten them, but no, it didn't help). So I'm going to stick to my Denise needles whenever possible. I just wish they came in the size 3's and 4's!

I'll share my new projects next time. Happy New Years!

I'm Lovin' It!

I am this close to finishing the Tangled Yoke Cardigan:



It looks too small in this photo, but that's because the stockinette is curled up. It actually will come out with the amount of ease I wanted, I think. I did add a bit of length to both the body and the sleeves. Now, I'm not tall and my arms are not long, but it looked like from the schematics that it was going to be too cropped-looking for my taste. Also, I was worried that the sleeves would be too wide for me, but I didn't change anything about the width. I'm now glad that I didn't try to make it smaller, because I think it would have otherwise been uncomfortable to wear a long-sleeve shirt underneath the cardigan. The pattern is great and I love, love, love that horizontal cable. I've never done one before (I'm not even sure I've even seen one before), and I couldn't conceptualize exactly how it was going to work. So that cable chart was like a great novel--you just want to keep reading it and reading it and knitting it to see how it develops. I don't know if there was a slight error in the decrease rows just before and just after the cable, though. It didn't quite work out to the right number of stitches, and I don't know if that was my mistake or the patterns, but it was minor and very easy to fudge without it being noticeable. All that's left is the neckband and the (dreaded) buttonband. This is my favorite knit to date!

On Saturday, I got to visit with Elizabeth. This was the first time I'd ever met a blogger in real life, and it was really fun. She is great! Plus, she wore her newly-finished Juliet, which was super cute. I had been thinking that I wanted to do a similar top for awhile...something on big needles, and this was just the extra push I needed. I ordered some Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky on eBay, so we'll see what I can come up with.

Elizabeth and I were looking at some pattern magazines together, and I admitted to her that I sometimes feel relieved after looking through a magazine if I don't find anything that appeals to me. That is because my queue is already so long and I can get overwhelmed with thinking there are so many things I want to do. Well, I didn't find anything in the new Vogue or Rebecca (I'm talking about #34), so I thought my knitting agenda was set. Next thing you know, the IK preview is posted, and I think I'm screwed! I love the Refined Aran Jacket, Selva Skirt (at least the bottom of it if not the waist area), Henley Perfected, Sweater Girl Pullover, Bubble Cable Dolman, Celtic Tote, Logan River Wrap, and Ruched Shell. Whew! Plus, I'm eyeing Ysolda's new top and am waiting for the pattern for it. Better go knit!

All Together Now

Well, I tried knitting the 2 sleeves of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan at the same time using magic loop, but it was a bit of a mess.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When we try to finesse a sleeve
The tutorial was very helpful (especially the pictures), but I really couldn't get it to work well. I think a big reason for this is that my circulars are too short--only 32" instead of 40". So it was really kind of cumbersome, and I decided it wasn't worth it. I did use the magic loop technique, but just did 1 sleeve at a time.

Here are the sleeves all done and joined with the main body. I have a couple more inches to go, and then I get to the good part. I'm very excited about the cable chart because I'm intrigued by how this cable looks. Gonna go knit now!

All Tangled Up

Yes, I'm still here, and I'm still knitting. It's taking a long time for things to settle down after my move, so I haven't been able to keep up with things as well as I'd like. I did finish 2 scarves for Christmas presents, but I'll show you those another day. I'm currently working on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the current issue of Interweave. I loved this design from the moment I saw it, and so when my Summer Stashout was done, I ran right out and got the materials.

I'm using Elsebeth Lavold Silk Wool in color #48, a sort of an olive gray. I had intended to use the recommended Rowan Tweed, but my LYS didn't have the color I wanted, so the saleslady suggested this yarn instead. Great choice on her part! I love the drape and the color, and it's about $2/skein cheaper than the Rowan. It's not exactly a tweed, but there is some great nubbiness and texture that I think work well for this design.


I've finished the bottom part. I think there was an error in the row count that the pattern specified, but I haven't had time to look around to see if others found that too or if I misinterpreted something. Also, I wish I had remembered that the original design had called for a lovely detail above the garter rib; I would have loved to have tried incorporating something like that. The only thing I'm not really sure about so far is the reverse stockinette seam stitch. We'll just have to see. I am ready to cast on for the sleeves and am going to try this great tutorial for using magic loop to do both sleeves at once.